Summer Outings – Getting a little culture

I recently had a chance to visit Melbourne’s Pop-up Globe, the world’s first full-scale temporary working replica of one of the greatest theatres in history, the (Second) Globe. Not wanting to miss the immersive experience of Shakespeare performed in the space for which it was written, I dragged my friend Sue along, she has never seen Shakespeare performed live, and I have never seen it performed like this, as it was originally intended.

“This isn’t dusty Shakespeare. This is now. Alive. Like a party.”

“Much Ado About Nothing”, by William Shakespeare, was so much more than a RomCom play, it was like Pantomime for adults. It was small and intimate and all-inclusive. The reviews have been nothing short of extraordinary, with anyone going saying it was truly a wonderful evening out. The Groundlings (Standing room, like a mosh pit, in front of the stage), we dragged into the action, up on stage, water thrown over them, food thrown at them, they drank shots with the cast (possibly just water). We were in the second row and as close as we wanted to the action!

It was one of those perfect balmy Summer nights, a light breeze, barely a cloud in the sky (The Globe is opened roof, so how it goes during the day or a storm???). The actors were wonderful, especially Benedick and Beatrice, and Constable Dogberry was a scream. Dancing, singing, and laugher, such a performance. On leaving out seats, Sue asked if we could go again, I responded with a resounding, YES!? Can you get a better review than that?

I am not going to give anything away, if you are unsure of the storyline, Wikipedia has it here. Sadly it is only running until Feb 3rd, 2018 and there are other performances available; Othello, Henry V, As You Like It. For more info, please visit the Pop-Up Globes website.

These were taken on my phone, didn’t take the camera, I had way too much fun and didn’t think about taking a load of photos. This was an experience to savour…but I couldn’t help but take just a few 🙂

~ Julz